Ok I opened my rear and saw this!!!!! I bought this jeep used so I didn't kno about this situation till just now! If you can see in my pictures, that piece of square tubbing is vibrating it's way into the side of my tire! What do I do to prevent more damage that what is there already?

 

Wow !!! my guess is that thing is the aftermarket bracket that is supposed to reinforce the tail gate so you can carry a bigger tire

What size of tire do you have there ? Maybe you can do without it, or maybe is adjustable ?

Edit: I see you have 37s ? can it go higher so the tip doesn't eat into your tire ?

 

I guess this was an attempt at keeping the tailgate from rattling. I would wrap it with some rubber hose or something.

 

Is this what it looks like ?



If you look carefully at the picture and into the online manual you can actually adjust the whole adapter up and down, my guess is that yours is probably not as high as it can be.

 

The bottom of the square tubbing( bottom of tire) is fine and extends pa's the side wall and looks fine. Last thing I want to happen is my $450 tire having a blown sidewall, or blowout if I got to use it. I'll investigate to see if it's adjustable. My tire carrier looks just like that one pic

 

It looks like a cheap poorly designed piece. Ditch it and keep your spare in the back until you can afford a real carrier. Depending on what the tire looks like you might need to replace it as well.

 

I don't have pictures yet, but I welded a piece of steel to extend it and painted it black. Looks real good, performs it's duity, and nobody sees it but me :beer